Random thing you loathe right now.

Bonnonon wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

When I'm going to do some volunteering no less, karma still won't cut me a damn break. Went to start my car to head to Operation Red Nose and the battery won't turn the starter. When I recently spent $800 on what was supposed to be $200 of repairs, the mechanic warned me that the battery was getting tired (it's apparently the original) but that if I couldn't afford to replace it then (I couldn't), it should last the winter, it just might have a bit of a tougher time on super cold days. It's not super cold today, just cold and it won't turn over. That's a minimum of another $200 I don't bloody have that I now have to find without delay. I actually know how to install a car battery myself but the only place in Ottawa I can buy one over the counter on the weekend is Canadian Tire who only sells their own in-house brand which has nothing but 1 star user reviews from the start of 2012 until now.

Dude, I came online to complain about my fridge that decided to temporarily die and made me spend all night fixing it, but it pales in comparison to what you are going through. Best of luck.

Naw, honestly your fridge being down and potentially spoiling food is way worse than my car not starting for a volunteer gig. At least we still have my girlfriend's car to get around but it's older and small so we both prefer I not use it for Operation Red Nose. The good news is that being the awesome friend he is, Stylez is going to help me out. He has a Costco membership and after some digging, we found out that the Kirkland Signature batteries (made by Johnson Controls) are considered very good quality for an in-house brand, soundly trouncing the Canadian Tire MotoMaster one I was going to have to get. He's going to check the price for me and if it's comparable, he'll go over with me and we'll buy one using his membership. Plus Costco hot dogs! Still didn't want to have to spend the money right now but at least I know I'm getting something I can be confident in. I'll just have to implement some personal financial austerity measures for a couple of months and assuming nothing else expensive breaks, things will right themselves soon. I had to skip one of my Red Nose nights because I was sick and last night because of the car. So help me, I'm doing the third night tonight!

RE Pittsburgh Dad
Damn. As the son of an Autoworker, that's a shocking look in the mirror. I hope it's hyperbolic.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

sucky luck during the holidays sucks

As an upside, F'n good on ya for doing a budget! You're ahead of most for just doing it. Stick to it, and you'll be better off long term. It's all about the long view. The further you look down the road, the better off you'll be; eventually. Your motto has to be "soon".

That and take on the Maker hobby lifestyle. Hobby budget goes down if you do it right. I have a tinkerer's mind though.

Ghostship wrote:

As an upside, F'n good on ya for doing a budget! You're ahead of most for just doing it. Stick to it, and you'll be better off long term. It's all about the long view. The further you look down the road, the better off you'll be; eventually. Your motto has to be "soon".

My girlfriend's going to be a Chartered Accountant in 9 months so budgeting's in her blood. I've never been awful with money but it's been very valuable to learn more of that skill from her though. If I can get the bloody debt from my old failed business paid off (still at least 3 years away without a sudden boon), situations like this month wouldn't be much of a problem at all. I'm supposed to be getting a title bump and hopefully a decent raise this year as my position at work is going to be evolving to include the duties of managing an additional support-focused IT person. I've no idea when said raise will come or how much it will be but I'm hoping it will take some more pressure off.

Just picked up my new glasses less than 2 hours ago and I just noticed that both of the lens have a ton of very fine scratches all over them. The place closed at 2 and won't be open again until the 2nd and if I want to take them back then I will have to get off work early.

So TIL that Mitsubishi is the Japanese version of Volkswagon in that they have to do everything just different enough to be a roaring pain in the arse, even though it provides no real benefit to anyone. Couldn't get a battery at Costco because they don't carry the mutant size my car needs (though we still got sweet, sweet Costco hot dogs for lunch.) I did manage to find one at Wal-Mart that was decently rated (of course I had to shop at Wal-Mart but desperate times and all that) but when I got home, I found out that there is this ridiculous air intake thing that goes right over the battery. Removing it involves taking off a bunch of torx screws, all of which are so badly corroded that they start to round as soon as I turn the screwdriver. My girlfriend's Dad has offered to help but he can't come over until tomorrow. So of the 3 nights I committed to Operation Red Nose, I've had to miss them all, either because of illness or because of this stupid car. Red Nose will do just fine without me but I still feel guilty for not being able to hold up my commitment. Not at all happy with Mitsubishi right now.

Radical Ans wrote:
MacBrave wrote:

Taking down Christmas decorations.

Technically yinzer humor, but it's still somewhat universal.

Heh heh. It was snowing today as I was outside taking down the Christmas decorations. I feel his pain.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

So TIL that Mitsubishi is the Japanese version of Volkswagon in that they have to do everything just different enough to be a roaring pain in the arse, even though it provides no real benefit to anyone. Couldn't get a battery at Costco because they don't carry the mutant size my car needs (though we still got sweet, sweet Costco hot dogs for lunch.) I did manage to find one at Wal-Mart that was decently rated (of course I had to shop at Wal-Mart but desperate times and all that) but when I got home, I found out that there is this ridiculous air intake thing that goes right over the battery. Removing it involves taking off a bunch of torx screws, all of which are so badly corroded that they start to round as soon as I turn the screwdriver.

Yeah, that sucks. On my son's old Chevy Lumina you had to take off a front tire to replace the battery. WTH are these engineers thinking?

MacBrave wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

So TIL that Mitsubishi is the Japanese version of Volkswagon in that they have to do everything just different enough to be a roaring pain in the arse, even though it provides no real benefit to anyone. Couldn't get a battery at Costco because they don't carry the mutant size my car needs (though we still got sweet, sweet Costco hot dogs for lunch.) I did manage to find one at Wal-Mart that was decently rated (of course I had to shop at Wal-Mart but desperate times and all that) but when I got home, I found out that there is this ridiculous air intake thing that goes right over the battery. Removing it involves taking off a bunch of torx screws, all of which are so badly corroded that they start to round as soon as I turn the screwdriver.

Yeah, that sucks. On my son's old Chevy Lumina you had to take off a front tire to replace the battery. WTH are these engineers thinking?

I used to have a 1998 Lumina that was dead easy to do the battery on but I remember the different model that required hat. A friend of mine who's a mechanic says that every engineer who designs cars should be required to perform all types of regular maintenance on an assembled prototype before green lighting it for production. And if they don't find anything wrong, a random mechanic should be brought in and asked to do the same. I'm more convinced when I see stuff like this that the cars are being designed to try to force you to go to a dealer for overpriced service wherever possible. The tire pressure system on this car definitely is. I'd say this is probably the last Mitsubishi I buy but I've learned that every brand has their own stupid issues.

Rykin wrote:

Just picked up my new glasses less than 2 hours ago and I just noticed that both of the lens have a ton of very fine scratches all over them. The place closed at 2 and won't be open again until the 2nd and if I want to take them back then I will have to get off work early.

Photograph them carefully and email the pics to yourself and the store tonight... That way you have a pixel trail if they try to argue that you cleaned them improperly or something in the intervening days.

MassDOT's Snow Removal Policy.

Just got back from the inlaw's up near Portland, ME, and once again, Massachusetts has the worst snow removal of the three states I had to drive across.

100 miles @ 35mph = nearly 4.5 hours to get home.

The 30 miles I had to cross in MA was a frozen-slush base getting topped with gently packing snow. Because, in MA,you salt roads before it starts to snow, and then never plow them.

Anyway, home safe. But tired, hungry, and cranky.

Sorry to hear about the continuing car troubles PxA. FWIW, when my battery went last year, I also sucked it up and went with Wal-Mart. My thought process was that even if its a crappy battery, and dies again within their warranty, its always more likely to be that a Wal-Mart is nearby than any other place that sells car batteries.

I do have a VW, but the only craziness I get to deal with is moving some kind of auxiliary fuse box that sits on top of the battery box. And needing tiny leprechaun hands to loosen a screw.

McIrishJihad wrote:

Sorry to hear about the continuing car troubles PxA. FWIW, when my battery went last year, I also sucked it up and went with Wal-Mart. My thought process was that even if its a crappy battery, and dies again within their warranty, its always more likely to be that a Wal-Mart is nearby than any other place that sells car batteries.

That was my thought in getting my tires replaced a few years ago, just before a cross-country move. Wasn't sure what tire places would be around, but there's Walmart everywhere.

soonerjudd wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:

Sorry to hear about the continuing car troubles PxA. FWIW, when my battery went last year, I also sucked it up and went with Wal-Mart. My thought process was that even if its a crappy battery, and dies again within their warranty, its always more likely to be that a Wal-Mart is nearby than any other place that sells car batteries.

That was my thought in getting my tires replaced a few years ago, just before a cross-country move. Wasn't sure what tire places would be around, but there's Walmart everywhere.

For tires, I go with Sears

Just about every mall has one with an auto center, whereas Wal-Marts with Tire Centers are a little further apart.

Once more for the opinionated old biddies who think that a father taking his son out on his own is an open invitation to heap judgement on him as a parent.

Today's entry: the stupid old which who insisted I wasn't keeping my son warm enough (I'd just felt his face and hands and he was wearing snow-proof gear in 8 degrees C weather) and that I shouldn't let him play with my mobile phone because it would make him stupid. Bonus marks for muttering under her breath about the mobile phone thing for half a f*cking hour until I got off the bus. 4 stops early.

Maq wrote:

Once more for the opinionated old biddies who think that a father taking his son out on his own is an open invitation to heap judgement on him as a parent.
Today's entry: the stupid old which who insisted I wasn't keeping my son warm enough (I'd just felt his face and hands and he was wearing snow-proof gear in 8 degrees C weather) and that I shouldn't let him play with my mobile phone because it would make him stupid. Bonus marks for muttering under her breath about the mobile phone thing for half a f*cking hour until I got off the bus. 4 stops early.

Oh gosh, I feel for you, I really, really do... It's like the minute you become a parent, everyone has an opinion on how you're doing things wrong, and how this is the way you should be rearing your child. I could write a book on the subject, and my son's only 13 months old...

Norovirus. While also dealing with a strained stitch, post-op. While husband has a horrible sinus infection... all while on vacation. o.o;;;

A friend didn't know what the norovirus was. I called it 'a kind of gloriously foul catherine wheel'.

Taking inventory. Ugh.

Maq wrote:

Once more for the opinionated old biddies who think that a father taking his son out on his own is an open invitation to heap judgement on him as a parent.

Today's entry: the stupid old which who insisted I wasn't keeping my son warm enough (I'd just felt his face and hands and he was wearing snow-proof gear in 8 degrees C weather) and that I shouldn't let him play with my mobile phone because it would make him stupid. Bonus marks for muttering under her breath about the mobile phone thing for half a f*cking hour until I got off the bus. 4 stops early.

In spades. God I hate that. I still get sh*t, and they're grown. I'm not much better at dealing with this stuff than I was when it had to do with how many blankets were over them.

Latest fun was a former neighbor I ran into when I walked down at the mail box with the kids the day before yesterday who made some backhanded quasi-racist comments about my elder daughter's boyfriend. He's very tall, and she made some idiotic comments about how if he was black he'd be a great basketball player. She also felt free to point out to me that my daughter's skirt was "very revealing". It was ankle-length denim and neither she nor my daughter are Muslim so I have no idea where the heck that came from other than my daughter has lost a lot of weight since she started her job and is looking too good no matter what she wears for my peace of mind. They're going to be engaged by sometime tomorrow. I can't wait for the comments on that. :eyeroll:

Then there was the relative who gave me crap over Christmas about my elder son looking at going into facilities management as a career because she's decided it doesn't have a future and why don't I tell him to get a business degree. He's 25 for crying out loud and about to be married. Other than telling him to shave if he shows up at my house with the half a 5 o'clock shadow he can grow I'm kind of out of the loop on those decisions. And I personally think it's an awesome idea - people aren't going to run out of the need for places to live and getting into the business of caring for them is a solid start IMHO. I know several people who make solid 6 figures doing that.

momgamer wrote:

Then there was the relative who gave me crap over Christmas about my elder son looking at going into facilities management as a career because she's decided it doesn't have a future and why don't I tell him to get a business degree.

Oh god, my mom did the same thing, even when I was probably making close to what she did in management, as a senior programmer. *sigh*

1Dgaf wrote:

A friend didn't know what the norovirus was. I called it 'a kind of gloriously foul catherine wheel'.

That's a perfectly twisted and succinct description. o.o

Eleima wrote:
Maq wrote:

Once more for the opinionated old biddies who think that a father taking his son out on his own is an open invitation to heap judgement on him as a parent.
Today's entry: the stupid old which who insisted I wasn't keeping my son warm enough (I'd just felt his face and hands and he was wearing snow-proof gear in 8 degrees C weather) and that I shouldn't let him play with my mobile phone because it would make him stupid. Bonus marks for muttering under her breath about the mobile phone thing for half a f*cking hour until I got off the bus. 4 stops early.

Oh gosh, I feel for you, I really, really do... It's like the minute you become a parent, everyone has an opinion on how you're doing things wrong, and how this is the way you should be rearing your child. I could write a book on the subject, and my son's only 13 months old...

Well, look, if you'd just do it right...

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Eleima wrote:
Maq wrote:

Once more for the opinionated old biddies who think that a father taking his son out on his own is an open invitation to heap judgement on him as a parent.
Today's entry: the stupid old which who insisted I wasn't keeping my son warm enough (I'd just felt his face and hands and he was wearing snow-proof gear in 8 degrees C weather) and that I shouldn't let him play with my mobile phone because it would make him stupid. Bonus marks for muttering under her breath about the mobile phone thing for half a f*cking hour until I got off the bus. 4 stops early.

Oh gosh, I feel for you, I really, really do... It's like the minute you become a parent, everyone has an opinion on how you're doing things wrong, and how this is the way you should be rearing your child. I could write a book on the subject, and my son's only 13 months old...

Well, look, if you'd just do it right... ;)

If I dressing my daughter the way my mother-in-law wanted she would have heat rash all the time... it is hard to block out what other people think is right.

On a side note I am loathing the fact that I have spent 20 minutes searching for my wii mote so I can watch netflix. My wife let my 9 month old crawl off with it and now she is frantically looking for the remote before my daughter wakes up for her 2 hour check-in. We have 10 minutes left on a movie to watch.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Eleima wrote:

Oh gosh, I feel for you, I really, really do... It's like the minute you become a parent, everyone has an opinion on how you're doing things wrong, and how this is the way you should be rearing your child. I could write a book on the subject, and my son's only 13 months old...

Well, look, if you'd just do it right... ;)

Hehe, touché. Mostly, at this point, it's usually very rude comments on how I'm still breastfeeding, or how I'm not letting him cry it out, or how I should be cutting his hair or this or that. Whatever you do, there's always something... At this point, I'm just thinking that I'm going to raise him my way, the best I can, end of story.

On a side note, I loathe the fact that he's teething, and that there seems to be little I can do to help him...

Eleima wrote:

Mostly, at this point, it's usually very rude comments on how I'm still breastfeeding...

Well, in fairness, it does get a little creepy once they're teenagers.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
MacBrave wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

I found out that there is this ridiculous air intake thing that goes right over the battery. Removing it involves taking off a bunch of torx screws, all of which are so badly corroded that they start to round as soon as I turn the screwdriver.

Yeah, that sucks. On my son's old Chevy Lumina you had to take off a front tire to replace the battery. WTH are these engineers thinking?

I used to have a 1998 Lumina that was dead easy to do the battery on but I remember the different model that required hat. A friend of mine who's a mechanic says that every engineer who designs cars should be required to perform all types of regular maintenance on an assembled prototype before green lighting it for production. And if they don't find anything wrong, a random mechanic should be brought in and asked to do the same. I'm more convinced when I see stuff like this that the cars are being designed to try to force you to go to a dealer for overpriced service wherever possible. The tire pressure system on this car definitely is. I'd say this is probably the last Mitsubishi I buy but I've learned that every brand has their own stupid issues.

Front tire what?! Yellek used to have a Lumina van and I thought it was bad enough we had to take out the... having trouble remember if it was the air filter or something else.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Front tire what?! Yellek used to have a Lumina van and I thought it was bad enough we had to take out the... having trouble remember if it was the air filter or something else.

I remember that too! I used to work with a guy who drove a Lumina van and it took 3 of us an afternoon to change whatever that is. I think you're right that it was the air filter. GM definitely had an "on crack" design period but yeah, more and more I'm convinced a lot of this is done on purpose. No one will ever convince me that the TPMS system in my Lancer that requires either a dealer or a $30,000 piece of equipment to reset every time you change the tires (which I do twice a year because of winter) wasn't purposefully designed to make me go to a dealer twice a year for $100 a pop. I don't do it when I put my winters on but now every time I start the car, a bright orange dash light comes on, blinks for 2 minutes then stays solid the whole time the car's running. In addition to the massive "SERVICE" warning that appears on the LCD status display and requires you to hold down a button for 3 seconds to make it vanish. And that resets itself to on every time you so much as open a door. Total scam.

Illnesses on vacation. It's my first vacation away from home in nearly three years and I'm sitting in the hotel room online. =\

At least the view is nice.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/ogQFu.jpg)

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

No one will ever convince me that the TPMS system in my Lancer that requires either a dealer or a $30,000 piece of equipment to reset every time you change the tires (which I do twice a year because of winter) wasn't purposefully designed to make me go to a dealer twice a year for $100 a pop.

That's insane. My Mini Roadster has TPMS and the warning light has come on a couple of times after it has become really cold and reduced the pressure inside the tires. It takes a few presses of a control button on the steering wheel to recalibrate the system and reset all of the warnings. There's absolutely no reason that every TPMS warning can't be reset in this manner.

Parallax, let me join you in your hatred of car repairs. I just got the estimate back from the shop. $800 for a new transmission solenoid and the work it takes to get the thing replaced. The part I loathe the most is that I was actually happy about this, because I was afraid it was going to be a full replacement at $2300. But that makes my budget a bit interesting the next couple months, that's for sure.